Scenes from the Shalit protest tent in Jerusalem

A group of about 50 people, plus some press, gathered at the Shalit protest tend outside the Prime Minister’s official residence in Jerusalem to watch the Gilad Shalit return to Israel for the first time in five long years. The old banners calling for Shilat to return home were replaced by new banners proclaiming, “How good it is you are home.”

When I got there, the first images of Gilad in Israel were starting to appear on the screen outside the tent. The joy of the protestors, many of whom had obviously devoted a great deal of time and effort to arrive at this moment, was palatable. The massive cheers whenever Gilad appeared in the news broadcast really brought the moment home in powerful way that I will remember for a long time.

On the way home, I passed by a bench with some bumper stickers that had appeared around the country during the campaign. It was a powerful reminder of what can be accomplished if enough people join together in a common purpose.